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UM president heartbroken over swimmer's death

University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe says the four-campus system is committed to bolstering its mental health services as a separate legal review of a former school swimmer's suicide is expected to soon begin.

Wednesday afternoon, University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe faced a room full of reporters. He wouldn't talk about the specifics of how Mizzou administrators handled Menu-Courey's rape allegations. But many of his comments focused on how school leaders can learn from this experience.

"We are very concerned with how we respond to students who have been sexually assaulted or how we help with students who have mental issues," said Wolfe.

According to the ESPN report, Sasha Menu-Courey lived with both. The report also claimed the University of Missouri system failed Sasha. After the alleged attack Menu-Courey checked herself into the campus hospital, where she reportedly told nurses and doctors she was raped.

But Wolfe maintains privacy laws prohibited the hospital from sharing that information with the university.

A statement released Sunday says the school learned of the claim in 2012 but Menu-Courey's parents didn't respond when asked if they wanted the university to investigate.

Wolfe said Wednesday an independent investigation will take place to identify any missteps and how the school can improve moving forward.

"It's important to note the independent council that is selected reports to the board of curators. That council has free reign in terms of looking at everything, including me," he said.

Wolfe couldn't give a timeline of when the independent investigation would start or how long he thinks it might take.